Episode 6: The Heist + The Cult, Part I

The Heist
Harry and Alexandria pose as the wealthy Van Houtens, with Professor Jones as their consultant from Miskatonic University. They visit Werner’s Auction House on Main Street on Thursday, August 26, 1926, concurrent with the other trio visiting the speakeasy. They find the Auction House to be clean and richly appointed, and Harry particularly notes the lack of significant security or covert entry options.

They are greeted by Charlie Cole, the main secretary of the establishment, and is a somewhat stuffy young man. Professor Jones is able to convince him that his clients are collectors who have requested he assess some of the items advertised for the October auction. At this, Charlie is quite perturbed, stating that he is unsure how the couple knows of the auction since it is 2 months away and has not yet been advertised to the public. As far as the investigators are concerned, they simply received it at the SEU headquarters and are unsure who delivered it. The auction, however, is indeed planned and the items contained in the flyer are correct.

Despite this inconsistency, they are allowed to meet with the current owner, Sidney Terry​​​​​, who has taken over from the previous Mr. Werner, who has fallen out of good health. Sidney is a very jovial, middle-aged man who is eager to meet with potential, wealthy clients. They make a plan for Professor Jones to return the next day in the afternoon to assess and appraise the items in question. He returns and is driven to an off-site warehouse by Charlie, who shows him the main vault where the most valuable items are kept, with a bank vault door requiring a combination and small, inconsequential locks on the glass case of each item. He also notes the presence of several lockers which a smaller person might be able to fit into (size <50), as well as a basic washroom.

He pretends to appraise the items successfully and returns to the auction house and the SEU, where he tells the other group members of the artifacts he encountered. He also describes the security arrangements that he was able to observe. At the SEU, the investigators seek the safe-cracking services of David “The Amazing Kraygen” Wilcox who agrees to help them once he finds out the purpose is to obtain occult artifacts.

The next day, Friday, August 27, Harry is free and is chosen to take a short rest from his speakeasy/cult-monitoring duties and instead scope out the security of the warehouse. He describes the guard duty and dogs, the surrounding warehouses, the locks in-place, and notes that there are times when only one guard is present, providing an opportunity to break in. When the other members are filled in, they develop a plan to carry out a ruse next Thursday, September 2.

For the ruse to assess the guards’ responses and timing, Stanley pretends to pursue Alexandria, who cries out to attract the guards, but they ultimately get into a waiting getaway car driven by Dr. Lucas to return to the SEU. Harry observes and times. The guard abandons his post to try to help Alexandria, and Harry hears them talk about the event after they return to the warehouse. Armed with this information, Alexandria proposes they monitor the warehouse the rest of the days of that week to see if the routine changes at all, particularly after this ruse event, but it does not appear to.

Afterwards, Stanley comes up with the idea of joining a security firm to act as a guard and allow the other investigators to steal the items. The following Monday, September 6, he starts making phone calls and identifies Ashford Security Service (ASS) as the company providing services to Werner’s Auction House. Stanley goes in and speaks with the manager, Frank Carlson, who recognizes him as a qualified boxer on the local circuit. Stanley is able to apply, citing an arm injury as to why he cannot continue his boxing career, providing his real name and the gym address on the paperwork. He is hired to work the Sunday to Wednesday night shifts, and is given a key to the security call boxes with which to call the police.

Stanley is oriented by the other guards and notes the bank vault is a Kinsley Mark III and relays this information to The Amazing Kraygen, who notes that it is a difficult safe to crack but that it has been done. The investigators setup a communication plan and continue scoping out the area, planning to make a first attempt Monday, September 27. ---I'm not 100% sure of this timing but it's what I think we determined---

On the night of the heist, they park away from the guard dogs and have Alexandria driving the getaway car, Harry carrying the goods, and Kraygen cracking the safe. They are all dressed in black outfits. In the 15 minute time window available to them from the other guard’s rounds, Kraygen is able to discern the 3 numbers of the safe’s combination but they run out of time to abscond with any of the artifacts. The next two night, Stanley is not posted at the correct door (South-facing), so no attempts are made, but on Thursday, September 30, they return, Kraygen opens the vault, Harry is able to cut the locks off the glass cases of all 20+ items and stash them in his duffel bags, and they leap into the car to return to the SEU and hide the items there. They read the information cards that were kept with each item and are pleased to have discovered quite the heist, including many of the artifacts now in their possession.

The Cult
Based on information Sherman Brooks provided to them, Dr. Fitzgerald, Dr. Lucas, and Stanley went to visit the Wish You Were Beer speakeasy around 4pm on Thursday, August 26, 1926. They notice an additional, smaller sign underneath the main one, proclaiming it to be the home of The Reverent Fraternity of Dreams. They were asked by the bouncer at the front door what they wanted and how they found out about the place and they said they might be interested in obtaining alcohol. They were admitted and they tried to order some drinks, but the waitress ___, reported that they did not in fact sell that type of illegal beverage at this establishment. They drank some soft drinks and instead went to Sherman’s home.

Sherman lives in a less-than-desirable area, and shares a small apartment with a roommate, Jim Doyle, who was not home at the time. The investigators were able to convince him to let them in by requesting something to drink and he was reluctant to allow them to investigate his roommate’s bedroom, not knowing them particularly well and being too timid to allow them access. They discover that he works as a custodian at City Hall and that he lives in more abject poverty than they are used to. They asked him for more details about the cult and he told them that they usually meet Wednesday at 9pm, and on the weekends, it’s more of a conventional religious group. The group moves to investigate Jim’s room but finds it quite bare, tidy and clean but lacking much of any kind of personal effects apart from personalized letterhead in the desk drawer.

Back in the main living area, the investigators notice and Sherman proudly shows them his cult-ish shrine, including the robes that they first met him in and some old books that, upon closer inspection, are merely “normal,” non-occult texts and novels. After a fair amount of discussion, Stanley is able to get Sherman to appreciate that a cult is not likely to be helpful to him and that other organizations like the Knights of Columbus or the other organization? might be a better choice, something that Sherman was not aware of and he agreed to look into some of those instead of the cult. However, the investigators told him they were going to investigate Wish You Were Beer and he requested they tell him if, in fact, they were not the dastardly presence the investigators believed it to be.

The trio returns to the speakeasy the next Sunday morning, August 29, and it appears that the congregation is actually one of the serpent-handling, charismatic branches of Christianity, with a preacher on the bar proclaiming the righteousness of God and how He protects the faithful from harm of the serpent. He notices Stanley and Dr. Fitzgerald, calling them out as being newcomers and inviting them up onto stage, which they decline. The snake is ultimately passed around and the investigators quickly leave afterwards.

They go back that evening and this time, offer Jim Doyle’s name as a contact who referred them. No unusual activity is noted initially, but shortly after ordering more soft drinks, a tall, skinny gentleman by the name of Adolph Odom comes up to them, introducing himself and inquiring as to the nature of their interest in the Fraternity. He pointedly directs his questions towards Stanley and Dr. Lucas, avoiding Dr. Fitzgerald, and the men surmise this is a fraternity in the true definition of the word. Stanley and Dr. Lucas mention that their main interest is of dreams  '— do you remember what you said? —  Dr. Fitzgerald speaks up, saying that she also dreams, referring to her dreams of “the women of the night.” From this and the unusual nature of the relationship between her and Stanley, Adolph' surmises that she is, in fact, a prostitute. She goes to the bar to give the men some privacy, and Adolph tells them to return Wednesday at 9pm and to “just bring yourself and your dreams.” Shortly thereafter, the trio exits and returns to the SEU.